Overview: Processing Graduate Fellowship Payments

Processing Fellowship Support in GFS

Fellowship tuition and stipend payments are entered in the Graduate Financial Support system (GFS) by department personnel and are processed by the Student Financial Services Department. Fellowship tuition support is credited against tuition charges on the student's University bill; it is not paid in cash, nor is it convertible to cash. The default for disbursement of the stipend is "standard charges," i.e., after other University charges such as room and board have been deducted, the remaining fellowship stipend is paid as a refund check to the student. If a student prefers to receive the fellowship check for the entire amount and pay the other charges with personal funds, the student must request the home department to issue the stipend as a "check only - no deductions" (use "stipend" charge priority). See the Graduate Financial Support Policy Manual for more information on Fellowships.

Credit Balances

Credit balances on student accounts may result from aid awards that exceed charges and/or aid awards intended to be disbursed entirely to the student (not for the payment of tuition or fee charges). Some student aid has restrictions placed on it by the donor or sponsor that preclude the aid from paying specific types of charges. Therefore, students may receive credit balance checks that include excess aid and/or stipend. Also, a student may still have unpaid charges on his/her student account that his/her aid is not eligible to pay, and receive a credit balance check from his/her student account. To prevent this, see the Financial Aid and Student Permissions section on the University Bill Payment Methods.

Refund / Stipend Checks

Refund / Stipend checks distributed from the student account are sent via Direct Deposit, or, if the student is not enrolled in Direct Deposit, are mailed by the Student Financial Services Office directly to the student's mailing address on file in Axess. (Checks will be mailed to the student on the next business day after the checks are printed.) We strongly recommend that students utilize Direct Deposit because it is the fastest way for students to receive their funds and it ensures receipt of funds regardless of address changes.

Students may review refund / stipend disbursement data under the "View your Account" window in Axess. Amounts are listed as "Refund / Stipend."

Leaves of Absence After Fellowships Are Paid

If a student withdraws during a quarter, the department / school determines whether a prorated amount of stipend must be repaid. To have the charges reduced, and thus be able to recapture any non-applicable tuition from the fellowship, the student should file a request for a Leave of Absence as soon as they know it will be needed.

External Fellowships Paid Directly to Students

In some cases, an external agency may award a fellowship directly to an individual, and the funding is not processed in any way through Stanford. In this case, the student is billed for tuition and fees in the same manner as other students, and pays those expenses directly. The student's home department should enter this support in GFS as "Info Only" to allow coordination of all aid the student may receive.

Graduate students with a fellowship award paid directly to them may be eligible for a Cardinal Care health insurance subsidy. Entering an "Info Only" aid line in GFS will trigger the subsidy if appropriate.

Departments should keep a copy of appropriate documentation defining such fellowship awards before making an "Information Only" entry in GFS.